Screw turning machine



v F. L. BRANDT 2,214,040 scnnw TURNING MACHINE Sept 10, 1940.

2 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept 26, 19:58

F. L.. BRANDT SCREW TURNING MACHINE Sept. 10, 1940.

Filed Sept. 26, 1938 Patented Sept. 10, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE SCREW TURNING MACHINE Jersey Application September 26, 1938, Serial No. 231,690

5 Claims.

This invention relates to machines by which screws may be turned in objects, either for their insertion or removal, though being particularly concerned with the latter operation, as in connection with the separation of temporary attaching screws from heels which they have been holding upon shoes. 7

An object of my invention is to facilitate the turning operation, to render it easy for the operator with the necessity for giving little attention to the work, and to guard against injury to the object in which the screw is inserted.

In the attainment of the above end, I provide a, novel rotatable device for turning a screw, this extremity of a tubular spindle which is openat the opposite extremity. With such an organization, the work may be presented to the engaging means, and when the screw is separated from the object in which it is contained, it will be discharged from the machine without suffering interference by the object. Since, with the discharge thus effected, the screw cannot remain turning idly in the carrying object, with a tendency to grind out the thread which has been produced and thereby render the screw-receiving opening unfit for a succeeding operation, the

' operator need not act at any particular time to remove the work from the machine, The turning means which I prefer to employ is arranged to rotate about a vertical axis and to engage a screw-head both at its opposite sides and its upper edge. The former engagement compels the rotation of the screw and the latter insures withdrawal. Associated with the screw-removing spindle is means, which may consist of a yieldable sleeve surrounding-the spindle, serving to limit lateral movement of the screw after it is withdrawn. This prevents the separated screw from being retained within the device because of its angular displacement under the influence of centrifugal force. The sleeve may also furnish a rest for the work, as by contact with the cone of a last within a shoe, the heel of which has been attached by the temporary screw being withdrawn. With the aid of the rest, the operator may present the work readily to the turning device.

(Cl. E l-32) The accompanying drawings show one of the several possible forms which my invention may assume,

Fig. 1 being a perspective View of the improved machine, with portions broken away;

. 2 a partial vertical section taken through one of the driven spindles, at the beginning of a period of action of its engaging device upon a screw;

Fig. 3 is a section similar to that of Fig. 2, with portions of the machine omitted and with a screw approaching withdrawal, and

Fig. 4, a broken detail in perspective, particularly illustrating the manner in which the turning projections engage the screw-head.

At It) in Fig. 1 of the drawings is shown a base, which at the rear may be secured to a bench while the forward portion projects therefrom. Rising from this projecting portion is a casing l2 which furnishes bearings for three vertical spindles. Two of these, designated by the numerals I4, M, are somewhat spaced from each other at opposite sides of the casing and are the operating spindles, They extend above the casing, carrying at their upper extremities screwturning devices or chucks C (Fig. 4). The third spindle it provides driving means for the operating spindles, being joined to them by some such gearing as a belt l8 engaging pulleys 2D,

casing and so arranged that all rotate in the same direction. By the enclosure of the driving;

gearing in the casing, the hands of the operator and the work are protected from contact therewith. Power is applied to the driving spindle by a motor 22 mounted upon a standard 24 at the rear of the base It! and acting through reductiongearing enclosed in a casing 26 carried by a bracket 23 secured to the standard. Each of the spindles M is tubular, its lower extremity opening through the bottom of the casing I2. The chuck C at the opposite end of its spindle has diametrically opposed projections for engagement with a screw-head. For convenience in manufacture, each projection is shown as confifi, 26 fast upon the three spindles within the sisting of three separate studs 33, 30 and 32 .x-

ings, and which is disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,527,168, Bresnahan, February 24, 1925, as employed for the temporary attachment of heels to shoes while an interposed adhesive is setting. This screw has a shank threaded at one extremity to enter a heel and has at the opposite end a head a in the form of a circular loop. The passage through each operating spindle i4 is of such diameter as to admit this head, but the ends of the opposite studs engage said head to compel its rotation. Outside each spindle I4 is a sleeve 36 compelled to rotate with its spindle by a projection 38 occupying a vertical slot 40 in the sleeve. The sleeve is held normally raised to an extent permitted by the slot and projection, with its upper flanged end or head 42 above the end of the spindle, by an expansion-spring 44 interposed between the sleeve-head and a shoulder upon the spindle. The end of the sleeve has an open ing at the center of the head registering with, and at least as large as, the spindle-passage. It may be beveled at 46 to facilitate the entrance of the screw-head a.

Considering the utilization of the apparatus for the simultaneous removal of the temporary attaching screws A, A from a pair of shoes S car ried by lasts L and having attached heels H, the operator takes a shoe in each hand, bottoms up, and rests the end of each last-cone upon one of the heads 42 of the corresponding sleeve 36. Each screw-head passes through the head-opening and into the passage of one of the constantly rotating operating spindles at its chuck C. The spindles are so spaced from each other that the simultaneous application of the two screws to them is readily effected, the heads 42 of the sleeves 36 with their beveled openings aiding in this. An outline of the action of one of the chucks upon the screw will be given, the operation for the other screw being the same. The sleeve 36 is depressed against the force of its spring 44 by the engagement of the last-cone with the head 42, and when the screw-head a enters between the opposite upper studs 32, 32, their engagement with its sides at once turns the screw in the stationary heel, causing said screw to be backed off. This action results in the descent of the screw, and when the opposite upper .edges of the head have passed below the studs 32, the pairs of studs 39, so contact with the sides of the head. In this position, the screw-head is locked against upward movement, and the operator may at once begin to lift the lasted shoe with its heel, with the certainty that the screw cannot be withdrawn from the chuck. The separation of the screw continues as the heel is carried away from it, and when the point is freed from the heel, it will have been fully released from said heel and will fall through the spindlepassage upon a shelf or into a receptacle beneath the bench. It is to be observed that the direction of movement of the screw through the lower end of the spindle is the same as the direction of its introduction into its upper extremity, the

. screw constantly traveling away from the work and the holding power of the permanent screw which is to follow the temporary screw be destroyed. As the lasted shoe is raised during the withdrawal of the screw, the sleeve 36 follows it, elevated by the spring 44. This is as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. When the screw is fully separated from the heel, the removal of the last has left said screw without lateral support. In absence of the sleeve, the centrifugal force produced by the rotation of the chuck would tend to throw out and hold the screw-shank at such an angle that it could not be discharged through the spindle. When, however, the shank contacts with the edge of the opening in the head 42 of the raised sleeve, it will be so positioned vertically that the force of gravity will exceed the effect of centrifugal force, and the discharge of the screw will be assured. Because of the constant rotation of the two operating spindles and the complete separation of the screws without interference, the operator has only to simultaneously present shoes, pair after pair, to the chucks and return them to the racks.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a screw-removing machine, a hollow spindle for receiving a screw, said spindle having means for engaging the head of the screw to rotate it and to permit its longitudinal movement with respect to the engaging means, additional means carried on the interior of the spindle and adapted to engage and rotate the head of the screw after said head has moved longitudinally beyond the first-mentioned means, the secondmentioned means being offset circumferentially and longitudinally with respect to the first-mentioned means whereby said first-mentioned means prevents movement of the screw in an opposite direction, and means for rotating the spindle to release the screw from the article to which it was attached and permit said screw to drop by gravity through the hollow spindle.

2. In a screw-removing machine, a hollow cylindrical spindle provided at the opposite sides of the interior with projections adapted to engage with the head of a screw to rotate it and permit its longitudinal movement with respect to the projections, additional projections on the interior of the spindle adapted to engage the head of the screw after said head has moved longitudinally beyond the first-mentioned projections, the second-mentioned projections being offset circumferentially and longitudinally with respect to the first-mentioned projections, whereby said first-mentioned projections prevent movement of the screw in an opposite direction upon engagement of the second-mentioned projections with said screw, and means for rotating said spindle to release the screw from the article to which it was attached and permit said screw to drop by gravity through the hollow spindle.

3. In a screw-removing machine, a hollow spindle for receiving a screw, said spindle having means for engaging the head of the screw to rotate it and permit its longitudinal movement with respect to the engaging means, additional means carried on the interior of the spindle and adapted to engage and rotate the head of the screw after said head has moved longitudinally beyond the first-mentioned means, the second-mentioned means being offset circumferentially and longitudinally with respect to the first-mentioned means, whereby said first-mentioned means prevents movement of the screw in an opposite direction, means for engaging the shank of the screw to limit its tilting due to centrifugal force, so that the screw may drop by gravity through the hollow spindle when disengaged from the article to which it was attached, and means for rotating said spindle.

4. In a screw-removing machine, a hollow cylindrical spindle having a bore of a diameter per- ,mittingthe passage of the head of a screw to be removed from an article, said spindle having a plurality of diametrically arranged projections on its inner wall adapted to engage and rotate the screw, certain of said projections being offset longitudinally and circumferentially from other of said projections to provide a barrier against lon gitudinal movement of the screw toward the article but permitting unlimited longitudinal move" ment of said screw in an opposite direction, and means for rotating the spindle to release the screw from the article and permit it to drop by gravity through the bore of said spindle.

5. In a screw-removing machine, a hollow cylindrical spindle having a bore of a diameter permitting the passage of the head of a screw to be removed from an article, said spindle having a plurality of diametrically arranged projections on its inner wall adapted to engage and rotate the screw, certain of said projections being offset longitudinally and circumferentially from, other of said projections to provide a barrier against longitudinal movement of the screw toward the article but permitting unlimited longitudinal movement of said screw in an opposite direction, a sleeve upon the spindle surrounding the screw, means normally urging said sleeve longitudinally away from the spindle, said sleeve being adapted to engage and support the article from which the screw-head projects, the sleeve being adapted to engage the shank of the screw when released from the article and limit its tilting due to centrifugal force so that the screw may drop by gravity through said hollow spindle, and means for rotating said spindle.

FRANCIS L. BRANDT. 

